The Child Life Program

Phone
(718) 670-2966

The Child Life Program is designed to help children and their families
cope with the stresses of hospitalization. Our supportive services
focus on the emotional and developmental needs of the child, as well as
the child’s family. We provide a non-threatening supportive
environment that encourages children to explore and understand their
feelings, fears and anxieties.

What is Child Life?

We ensure that our pediatric patients and their family
are comfortable and confident with the environment, procedures and the
people involved with their care. The
Child Life staff provides explanations of medical procedures to
patients and families, distracts children during medical procedures and
provides post-therapeutic intervention to ease the anxiety of the child.
Along with a team of specially trained volunteers and interns,
the child life staff strives to build a trusting relationship
with the children and their families. This is achieved by supervising
play, answering questions in age-appropriate language, and providing
educational and emotional support. The trust that is formed allows
children to express their feelings and concerns regarding their
hospitalization. We focus on creating the best possible
environment that we can for our patients and their families, and
giving the best education and support to our children and their
families in order to let them have the best hospital experience that
they can.